Today was like a really full day – busy and fun, we learnt a lot although some of it was quite over our heads:
It was mostly Hawaiian culture, language, Hula and tradition on the menu.
We learnt about the differences between Hula (Dance) and Oli (Chant) and the requirements for Hawaiian Hula (which serves as a spiritual journey, as a connection to the environment and as a portal) to also have Oli as a part of it, as the Oli drives the Hula (unlike other Polynesian cultures, whose dances do not necessarily require of words or phrases). We got stories about the catching and the usage of birds in the old tradition, as birds were important sources of food, feathers for the capes of the Kings, tools and for religion. We learnt the alphabet and the pronunciation of the Hawaiian native language and felt like first graders in French classes or so as we repeated after the teacher the individual vowels, consonants and the possible combinations – there are in fact not so many, but they always repeat one after another to form sometimes incredibly long and complicated words, especially if you add the okina (‘ as in Hawai’i), a glottal stop which should be taken very seriously as this forms part of good spirit when the pauses are made correctly and the following letters emphasized well, and the macron (- over a word) to lengthen it a little bit – forgetting one or the other may render the word into a completely different meaning, so one has to be careful! Before 1820, there was no written Hawaiian (like Schwiizerdütsch before SMS and email), and all traditions, cultural aspects and beliefs had to be transported purely orally.
The connection of the Hawaiian language, the cultural places, Hula and Oli are nicely combined even for us outsiders, as meaning can only be created through experience (Oli) and meaning is transported and passed on through interpretation (like in the Hula as an expression of it). So our part of interpretation is a key part in the overall experience and creation of meaning, which I think is not to be underestimated when interpreting in such a diverse place as Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

I hope I am not boring you with all of this, it may open up a facet of insight not readily available for the outsider, and it also helps me get my mind clearer.

We also got the Hawaiian names and places of historic meanings, especially around the crater rim, as we should be using or alluding to them whenever possible when in interpretation with visitors. Especially particular was the presentation of the Ethnobotanist to explain traditional hawaiian use of native plants, Kapa tools (for cloth making of bast) and design. This really felt like a Potions lesson in Harry Potter’s Hogwarts school. We also got extensive information about the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail project, a part of the overall National Historic Trails registers project. At that point we did get a little distracted as we were approaching 3 pm and the sky was covering a little bit in clouds – the transit of Venus, a really rare event and only the 7th observed by mankind since its first discovery, had started around noon time and we should be getting a telescope with corresponding equipment here at our military camp education room. However, the weather over at Jaggar museum seemed to be better, so many of us headed over to get a real glimpse of the event there, along with many visitors. We also witnessed a proper double rainbow entering right into the crater of Halema’uma’u, like it was directly connected to Pele Herself.